Sermon - 9/25/222

23 min•0 تشغيلات•0 مفضلات

Religion

الوصف

Last week we received one of Jesus’ most bizarre and perplexing stories. Today, we receive one of his harshest stories. It is interesting that we are given this reading just days after we have seen world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly and address the multitude of problems facing this world, the biggest of which is climate change. The UN Chief did not mince words as he prophetically sounded a global alarm, warning leaders about the survival of humanity and the planet. For those of us who follow the teachings of Jesus, we discover God calls us to compassionately act in response to the many crises in our present context. Now, as we respond to Jesus’ message, some may say his teachings are just for our private lives, not for our public behavior, or he is irrelevant to our times. But, as the Rev. Jim Wallis writes in his book, Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus, he says, “That is hard to do for those who call themselves Christians, if God so loved the world.” You see, if the gospel has no meaning for our current, present context and does not inform the way we respond to injustice, the gospel really has NO meaning. In all of today’s readings, we hear words about justice and faithful stewardship, messages that are very relevant to this present moment. In the reading from Luke’s gospel, justice is presented as an eschatological (meaning end of time) balancing of the scales: those who suffered in need are made full, and those who have reveled in excess are left empty. This story is all about a call to live a certain way in the here and now of everyday life. Jesus has been having a conversation with the Pharisees about the love of money and the desire for riches and, today, we find him continuing that conversation. He tells the Pharisees yet another story, another parable that is rather difficul

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